Li Shufu: Geely and Volvo will join hands to develop electric cars

Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2014-4-21 14:44:28

Geely and Volvo are discussing on the establishment of a joint R&D institution of the electric drive system and manufacturing company so as to gain ground in the future new energy automobile market, Chairman of Geely Holding Group Li Shufu disclosed recently.

"Although there isn’t a timetable for the era of pure electric cars yet, the orientation is quite clear," said Li Shufu. Geely and Volvo will make large-scale investments in the research, development and manufacturing of electric drive system for automobiles, so as to embrace the arrival of the new energy vehicles era.

As a matter of fact, dating back to a long time ago, Geely and Volvo have conducted cooperation in the field of new energy cars. The EC7 pure electric car, the model that Geely is preparing to launch onto the market, also contains technical resources from Volvo's electric automobile technology.

It is said that Geely has invested more than 1 billion yuan in the research and development of new energy cars, especially in its international cooperation and the integration of international advanced technical resources. This enables Geely to make a great substantial progress over the past few years in the research and development of new car models for energy conservation and new energy. As a result, the technical reserves have been basically accomplished.

Recently, Geely Automobile has also purchased Emerald, a British manufacturer of electric vehicles, continuing its efforts to integrate global resources to strengthen the research and development of new energy automobiles.

Li Shufu believes that the cooperation between Geely and Volvo within the same group is essential for the future development of both sides. Under the framework of new ownership, Volvo has been running for nearly four years. As the first transformation plan of 11 billion dollars investment is yielding results, a series of new models will be released soon. The R&D center in Sweden jointly established by Geely and Volvo has officially started its operation, and both sides will research and develop the fundamental structural module together.

After acquiring Volvo, Geely Holding Group has adjusted its global development strategy and set up a brand relationship as “Geely is Geely, Volvo is Volvo”. Geely is a mass-market car brand, while Volvo is a luxury one. “The relationship between Geely and Volvo is just like two brothers rather than father and son, but they both belong to the Geely Holding Group. Like other automobile companies in the world, the two brands are trying their utmost to seek more cooperation,” Li Shufu said.